I'd be surprised if we let Gaskell go, for me when he bulks up he'd be an old school ball playing 13

Smith is a major step down from Finch for Wigan. Though the option is now there for them to move Tomkins back to Stand off playing next to him

I'd personally move Lomax to fullback for next season. I love Wellens, I really do but the role of a fullback as changed through the years. Lomax could do the kind of damage that Tomkins does at Wigan.

I'd use Hohaia as a hooker to give Roby a rest. We've had a lot of success at interchanging hookers in the past but we expect Roby to do the full stint now.

I really like Wheeler. If he could just stay fit I'd play him at 6. I'd like to keep Gaskell too.

We just need a clever scrum half. An organiser. He doesn't need to be lightning fast with an eye for running through a gap. He'll have players that can do that around him. Goulding was amazing at that. Not sure Matty Smith is the long term solution though but I'd have him at Saints tomorrow.

Hmmmm..

Never understood the negativity surrounding him. IMHO had much more to his game than Eastmond.

I didn't say we did sign them, but our coaching staff have improved them.

Heard a whisper last night he is coming to saints next year.

No negativity to him at all - he's a good, solid, honest pro who'll never let you down. The problem is that 2 of the biggest clubs in the game are now (apparently) having to fight over his signature when 10 years ago neither of us would have even considered him. From Long/Martyn/Sculthorpe/Smith/Farrell/Edwards/Paul/etc. to Matty Smith in a decade is a sad, sad sign of the times.



Oh, come on now... Let's not get silly...

Matty Smith reminds me a lot of Lee Briers early on in his career. Unspectacular, average pace but clever, and good distrubution with hands and with the boot. Matty Smith played for the team, Eastmond played for himself.

I think we've lost our way a little with the kind of scrum halfs we're producing. If a player is small,lightning quick and excels at taking on the line we seem to want to play him as a scrum half. IMO a scrum half doesn't need these qualities, it's a football cliche but a scrum half let's the ball do the work by distrubuting it quickly. Making the right decision on the last tackle ie You don't half to score a try from every set of six, you gain field position and build pressure.

Excellent post. I am with you, the game is going backwards. The only thing that is improving is speed, size and fitness which in no small way is down to sports science. The way rugby league is being run we will be lucky if we are still have a sport to watch in 20 years time.

Briers, purely in terms of raw talent, is a couple of steps above Matty Smith. However, any advantage Briers's possesses is matched by his peculiar ability to waste it. Smith might not bring a lot of class to the table, but he knows how to use what he's got.

Good post burt I would disagree with you about the speed of the game. If anything its slower than eight to ten years ago especially the play the ball.

Unfortunately some aspects of the game will and are going backwards. We dont have the same spending power as the Aussie clubs because of their increased cap and the static cap in SL. We wont attract the better players from the NRL anymore and if anything some of our better players might decide to go over there rather than stay in SL. The only chance that any of top players will come over from Australia in the future is beacuse they have screwed up (e.g Greg Bird and Monaghan) and nobody wants them. The smaller numbers that will be signed will all be either NRL rejects, because they aren't as good or looking to boost thier pensions in an easier league.

As an earlier poster has written a few years ago Smith wouldn't even be considered a good signing by either Wigan or Saints but I guess that there's so few players available in certain positions at the moment.

He will be the body image of Leon when he played here and with the right development he could be very close to the Leon we had in the past.

I recall well the time I was watching my nephew in an u10's game at Thatto Heath a couple of seasons ago, the same day as Warrington were playing a cup game at the Galpharm with a kick off at 2pm (I think), and he was still stood there necking a pint at 11:45. I was convinced he must have been injured or dropped, but sure enough I turned the telly on at 2pm and there he was out on the field... And this was after Smith had taken them over and supposedly sorted out their professionalism...

just on that, Jonas was signing for us for this year anyway, coming over to join his brother, we got him a year early to his faux pas, thats all.